Document MJXaQQ4xGD4zBMOE0qjMw3bbV

RANKIN REPORTING & LEGAL VIDEO Registered Professional Reporter / Certified Legal Video Specialist 1015 Locust Street St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1329 (314) 231-2202 Fax (314) 231-7432 November 22, 1991 Mr. Ronald Burnett 113 Blackthorn Drive St. Louis, MO 63123 Dear Mr. Burnett: Your deposition taken on the 7th day of November, 1991, in the matter of Alice L. Warren, etc. vs. The Dow Chemical Company, et al has been transcribed and is now ready for your signature. Please call this office at the above number in order to arrange a time for you to come in to read and sign your depo sition. Failure to respond to this letter within 45 days will constitute a willingness on your part to have said deposition promptly filed in Court without your signature. Sincerely, cc: Keith A. Minoff Susan P. Ritter Rosemary A. Macero Martin P. Sucker Original Transcript Sandra Wunderlin Witt Court Reporter 001444 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS 2 3 4 ALICE L. WARREN, etc., ) ) 5 Plaintiff, ) 6 vs. ) ) Cause No. 89-30201-F 7 THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY, et al, 8 Defendants. 9 ) ) ) ) ) 10 DEPOSITION OF RONALD BURNETT 11 TAKEN ON BEHALF OF THE PLAINTIFF 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 NOVEMBER 7, 1991 22 23 RANKIN REPORTING SERVICE 24 1015 Locust Street St. Louis, Missouri 63101 25 (314) 231-2202 ____________________________________________0 (" I A n J 1 1 INDEX 2 Direct Examination by Mr . Minoff 3 Cross Examination by Ms . Ritter 4 Cross Examination by Ms . Mace ro 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 64 64 O *; '< o 2 1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS 2 ALICE L.t WARREN, etc,, ) 3) Plaintiff, ) 4 vs. ) ) Cause No. 89-30201-F 5) THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY, ) 6 et al, ) ) 7 Defendants. ) 8 9 DEPOSITION OF RONALD BURNETT, produced, sworn, 10 and examined on the 7th day of November, A.D., 1991, 11 between the hours of eight o'clock in the forenoon 12 and six o'clock in the afternoon of that day, at 701 13 Market Street, in the City of St. Louis, State of 14 Missouri, before Sandra Wunderlin Witt, Registered 15 Professional Reporter, a notary public within and for 16 the County of St. Louis, State of Missouri, in a 17 certain cause now pending in the United States 18 District Court, for the Eastern District of Missouri, 19 between Alice L. Warren, etc.. Plaintiff, and The Dow 20 Chemical Company, et al. Defendants, on behalf of the 21 Plaintiff. 22 23 24 25 3 1 APPEARANCES 2 Robinson, Donovan, Madden For the Plaintiff & Barry, P.C. 3 1500 Main Street-1400 Springfield, Massachusetts 01115 4 By: Keith A. Minoff 5 Nutter, McClennen & Fish For the Defendant One International Place Dow, Union 6 Boston, Massachusetts 02110-2699 Carbide, Conoco By: Susan P. Ritter 7 Morrison, Mahoney & Miller For the Defendant 8 250 Summer Street B.F. Goodrich Boston, Massachusetts 02310 9 By: Rosemary A. Macero 10 Monsanto Company 800 North Lindbergh Blvd, 11 St. Louis, Missouri 63167 By: Martin P. Zucker 12 For the Witness 13 STIPULATION 14 IT IS HEREBY STIPULATED AND AGREED, by and 15 between counsel for the parties that this deposition 16 may be taken in shorthand by Sandra Wunderlin Witt, 17 RPR, and afterwards transcribed into typewriting. 18 MS. MACERO: Sir, before we start maybe we 19 should talk about stipulations, starting with the 20 reading and signing. 21 MR. ZUCKER: He will want to read the 22 deposition and sign it. 23 MR. MINOFF: Also, in past depositions in 24 this case I think all of them that have been 25 conducted the atorneys have stipulated that all GO)A & 3 4 1 objections except those as to form will be reserved 2 for trial and do not need to be made at the 3 deposition. Is that agreeable? 4 MS. RITTER: That's fine. 5 MS. MACERO: What about motions to strike? 6 MR. MINOFF: And the same thing with 7 motions to strike. They will be reserved for trial 8 even if they're not made. 9 MS. RITTER: No problem with us. 10 MR. MINOFF: Okay. I think we're ready to 11 begin then. 12 RONALD BURNETT. 13 of lav/ful age, being first duly sworn to tell the 14 truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, 15 deposes and says in behalf of the Plaintiff as 16 follows: 17 DIRECT EXAMINATION 18 QUESTIONS BY MR. MINOFF 19 Q. Sir, would you state your name? 20 A. My name is Ronald H. Burnett. I live -- 21 excuse me. 22 Q. What is your current home address? 23 A. 113 Blackthorn Drive. 24 Q. And where is that located, sir? 25 A. St. Louis. 001 /i a9 5 1 Q. And how long have you lived at that 2 address? 3 A. Approximately forty years. 4 Q. Who lives there with you now? 5 A. My wife. 6 Q. And what is her name? 7 A. Betty. 8 Q. How old are you, sir? 9 A. I'm seventy-seven. Will be seventy-eight. 10 Q. And what is your current employment 11 status? Are you retired? 12 A. I'm retired. 13 Q. And what is the last employment that you 14 held? 15 A. At Monsanto I was director of raw 16 materials. 17 Q. And when did you leave Monsanto? 18 A. 1980. Early 1980. 19 Q. What month? Do you recall? 20 A. I believe it was in January. January or 21 February. 22 Q. And since leaving Monsanto have you been 23 employed in any capacity by anybody? 24 A. No, sir, 25 Q. Have you done any work for Monsanto since GiM # 5 u 6 1 retiring in January of 1980? 2 A. No, sir. 3 Q. When did you start to work at Monsanto? 4 A. 1937. 5 Q. And did you work at Monsanto continuously 6 from 1937 through 1980 or January of 1980? 7 A. Right. 8 Q. Were you in the military at all during that 9 period? 10 A. Yes. Pour and a half years. 11 Q. And what years were they? 12 A. '42, '43, '44, and about half of 145 as I 13 recall. 14 Q. So aside from the time you spent in the 15 military in the 1940s, you were at Monsanto on a 16 continuous basis from 1937 to January of 1980? 17 A. That's correct. 18 Q. What was the first job title that you held 19 there? 20 A. In 19 -- or in when I first started? 21 Q. Yes, sir. 22 A. I was a grinder. That's a production job. 23 I was just -- if I may continue. I was just out of 24 college and that was an open place. 25 Q. Where was that located? Where was the G i* 1 /l. S 'j[ 7 1 Monsanto plant? 2 A. Nitro, West Virginia. 3 Q. How long did you remain in the Nitro, West 4 Virginia plant? 5 A. From '37 through service and until 1951. 6 Q. What other jobs did you hold at the Nitro 7 plant between 1937 and 1951? 8 A. Well, as I stated, a grinder, which is an 9 hourly job, and then I went into production operating 10 on a shift basis. From there I was transferred to 11 engineering which was a salary basis. And then from 12 engineering to purchasing. 13 I believe my first title in purchasing was 14 purchasing assistant. 15 Q. What were you doing when you left West 16 Virginia in 1951? 17 A. I was purchasing agent in the Nitro plant. 18 Q. And what was it you were actually 19 purchasing? 20 A. Everything that the plant used. 21 Q. And what was being made at that plant at 22 that time? 23 A. That essentially was a rubber accelerator 24 plant. And we made products for the tire industry 25 worldwide. OOt* a.?* 2 8 1 Q. Was the West Virginia plant involved at all 2 in the production of plastics? 3 A. No, sir. 4 Q. So they were not involved in the production 5 of polyvinyl chloride at the West Virginia plant? 6 A. No. 7 MS . MACERO: Objection. 8 MS. RITTER: Objection. 9 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What did you actually do 10 in purchasing? What were your day-to-day job 11 duties? We're still at the West Virginia plant. 12 A. General purchasing functions such as buying 13 raw materials for the plant and mechanical items, 14 maintenance items. That -- requisitions to buy those 15 products came through our purchasing department. 16 Q. When you refer to raw materials, are you 17 including the purchase of chemicals that were used at 18 the plant to make products? 19 A. Yes. 20 MS. MACERO: Objection. 21 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Where did you go in 1951? 22 A. I came to St. Louis. Purchasing. 23 Q. And what was your actual job title when you 24 landed in St. Louis? 25 A. Manager of priorities. 001 ^^3 9 1 Q And that was within what division of the 2 company? 3 A. That was corporate purchasing, 4 Q. Manager of priorities -5 A, For the company. 6 Q. For corporate purchasing? 7 A. Right. 8 Q. It's a department? 9 A. Right. If you recall, that was the Vietnam 10 War period. 11 Q. We're talking now about 1951 when you left 12 West Virginia. Or Korean War you meant to say? You 13 said Vietnam. 14 A. I'm sorry. 15 Q. Straighten that one out. How long did you 16 remain as manager of priorities? 17 A. Approximately one year. 18 Q. And what did you do in that position? 19 A. Lived in Washington, D.C. As you recall, 20 during that period in order to buy critical items you 21 had to have a government priority number. And my 22 responsibility was to get those government priority 23 numbers approved through our Washington office. 24 Q. So you spent a lot of time during that year 25 0 ^4 10 1 A. Yes, sir . 2 Q. in Washington, D.C.? 3 A. Right. 4 Q. Were you actually involved in the direct 5 purchasing of any raw materials for Monsanto during 6 that period? 7 A. No, sir. 8 Q. Do you know, sir, if during that one year 9 Monsanto was producing polyvinyl chloride at any of 10 its plants? 11 A. I do not know. 12 MS. MACEROs Objection. 13 MS. RITTER: Objection. 14 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What was the next job 15 title that you had? 16 MS. RITTER: What was his response? I 17 didn1t hear it. 18 MR. MINOFF: He said he doesn't know. 19 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What was your next job 20 title after you were manager of priorities? 21 A. I was transferred to Springfield, 22 Massachusetts. 23 Q. And would that have been 1952? 24 A . ' 5 2 . GO'S A 25 Q. And how long were you in Springfield? 11 1 A. Approximately two years. 2 Q. And what was your job title there? 3 A. I was manager of purchases for the plastics 4 division. 5 Q. So that would have been from 1952 to 1954? 6 A. Yes. Not through '54 but into '54. 7 Q. Into '54. What did the plastics division 8 at the Springfield plant include? What types of 9 products? 10 A. Are you asking what types of products we 11 purchased? 12 Q. Well, let's start with what types of 13 products were manufactured at the plant. 14 A. I don't remember. They were of the 15 plastics family but I do not remember the products. 16 Q. Do you recall a product that was known by 17 the trade name of ultron? 18 MS. MACERO: Objection. 19 MS. RITTER: Objection. 20 THE WITNESS: No, sir, I don't. 21 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know if during that 22 period, sir -- sir, again, we're talking about the 23 period when you were manager of purchasing in the 24 plastics division -- if the Springfield plant was 25 then manufacturing polyvinyl chloride? 12 1 MS. RITTER: Objection. 2 MS. MACERO: Objection. 3 THE WITNESS; I believe they probably 4 were. I think that was part of our product line. 5 Q, (By Mr. Minoff) And what did you do, sir, 6 on a day-to-day basis as manager of purchasing in the 7 plastics division? 8 A. One of my main responsibilities were we 9 were reorganizing our purchasing department which 10 consisted of some fifteen -- twelve to fifteen 11 people. 12 I was asked to go to Springfield by one of 13 our vice presidents and assist as best possible in 14 getting the organization operating on then a current 15 basis as business dictated. 16 I supervised -- or the people who did the 17 buying in the raw materials, mechanical items, and 18 containers reported to me. 19 Q. So you were involved in helping to 20 reorganize the department that was there? 21 A. That's correct. 22 Q. And as part of that you also supervised a 23 number of people who were engaged in purchasing? 24 i l4 - ' ( 25 Q. Did you yourself engage in any purchasing 13 1 for Monsanto during that time? 2 A. Actual day-to-day purchasing are you 3 asking? 4 Q. Okay. We'll start with that. 5 A. Basically, no. Our major raw materials I 6 would assist our buyers in developing commitment 7 contracts or purchase contracts and also was very 3 actively engaged in bringing our purchasing activity 9 into the management structure of our operation. 10 Prior to my going to St. Louis -- or to 11 Springfield, we basically did not have an official 12 representative on the general manager staff. 13 Q. When you say we, who do you mean? 14 A. Well, I mean purchasing. I'm sorry. And I 15 filled that particular spot. Sat in on general 16 meetings that related to some of our activity. 17 Q. During that period, sir, we're restricting 18 ourselves for the moment to the 1952 to 1954 period 19 when you were in that position. Do you know whether 20 Monsanto purchased any vinyl chloride from any 21 source? 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 MS. MACERO: Objection. 24 THE WITNESS: If we were operating a 25 polyvinyl chloride plant, I'm sure we -- whether we 001 A$8 14 1 were purchasing it -- I do not know when we started 2 up our vinyl chloride plant in Texas. If it was 3 operating, we were using that material I'm sure. 4 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Assuming that -- I'm 5 sorry. Let's just go back for a second to what you 6 said. You referred to a plant in Texas. That would 7 have been a Monsanto owned plant? 8 MS. RITTER; Objection. 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS; Yes. 11 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And that was a plant that 12 produced vinyl chloride? 13 A. Yes. 14 MS. RITTER; Objection. 15 MS. MACERO; Objection. 16 THE WITNESS; That's where we produced 17 vinyl chloride. 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) By we you mean Monsanto? 19 A. Monsanto. 20 Q. Did you ever visit the plant in Texas City? 21 A. The plant itself, yes. 22 Q. Did you ever visit there while you were 23 manager of priorities? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Over purchasing? 15 1 A. Yes. Oh, no. Not as manager of 2 priorities. 3 Q. It would have been some later time? 4 A. When I was in Springfield. 5 Q. Well, you were in Springfield beginning in 6 1952, correct? 7 A. Right. 8 Q. Maybe we should go through the rest of your 9 history and then come back. Where did you go in 10 1954? 11 A. I was transferred back to St. Louis. 12 Q. And did you remain in St. Louis from 1954 13 until you retired in 1980? 14 A. That's correct. 15 Q. Now, let's go back to while you were in 16 Springfield. While you were in Springfield did you 17 ever visit the Texas City plant? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And on what occasions did you do that? 20 A. You mean while -21 Q. I mean what were the circumstances of your 22 visit. Do you recall? 23 A. It had to do with engineering. 24 Q. Were you functioning as an engineer during 25 that period? 16 1 A. No# but we were building a plant unit at 2 Texas City in which was engineered and the contract 3 was executed out of Springfield. 4 Q. Was the plant under construction when you 5 visited it? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. Was it actually producing anything at that 8 time? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Did you subsequently visit the plant after 11 it was up and running? 12 MS. RITTER: Objection. 13 MS. MACERO: Objection. 14 THE WITNESS: I visited Texas City plant 15 many times. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall when the 17 first time is that you visited the plant and it was 18 actually producing? 19 MS. MACERO: Objection. 20 MS. RITTER: Objection. 21 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) How many times would you 22 say you visited the plant totally? 23 MS. MACERO: Excuse me. What was the 24 answer to that question? 25 MS. RITTER: You have to answer out loud. 01 0 17 1 Whichever your answer is, say it out loud 2 THE WITNESS: The question? 3 MS. MACERO: Your previous question. 4 (The last question was read back after 5 which the following proceedings were had.) 6 THE WITNESS: No. 7 MS. RITTER: We objected to that. 8 MS. MACERO: We objected to that. 9 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) You said you visited the 10 plant many times? 11 A. Many times. 12 Q. And approximately how many times would you 13 say you visited it in total? 14 A. Perhaps ten, fifteen times. 15 Q. Now, do you know whether or not that plant 16 was ultimately sold by Monsanto? 17 MS. MACERO: Objection. 18 MS. RITTER: Objection. 19 THE WITNESS: I was aware of it. 20 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know when it was 21 sold? 22 A. I do not. 23 Q. And do you know who it was sold to? 24 A. I believe it might have been -- I do not 25 know exactly the name of the company who purchased Gc ? /li> 18 1 the plant 2 Q. Do you know what the circumstances were -3 A. I do not. 4 Q. -- of the purchase? 5 A. I do not. 6 Q. Was vinyl chloride monomer one of the 7 things that was produced at the Texas City plant? 8 MS. RITTER: Objection. 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS: I believe it was. 11 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Were there other chemicals 12 that were also produced at that plant? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. During your tenure at Monsanto, were there 15 any other Monsanto owned facilities that you were 16 aware of that produced vinyl chloride monomer other 17 than Texas City? 18 MS. MACERO; Objection. 19 THE WITNESS: No. 20 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know where the 21 vinyl chloride monomer produced in Texas City went to 22 when it left the plant? 23 MS. RITTER: Objection. 24 MS. MACERO: Objection. 25 THE WITNESS; Oh, I believe it went to GO14B2 19 1 Springfield. 2 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) For what purpose? 3 A. Apparently for polyvinyl chloride. 4 Q. For the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride? 5 MS. RITTER: Objection. 6 MS. MACERO: Objection. 7 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know whether any of 8 the vinyl chloride monomer from Texas City was ever 9 shipped anywhere other than Monsanto's Springfield 10 plant? 11 A. I do not. 12 Q. Do you know whether any vinyl chloride 13 monomer produced in Texas City was ever sold to any 14 other company? 15 MS. MACERO: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: No, sir, I do not. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Is it fair to say that 18 your understanding is that the vinyl chloride monomer 19 produced in Texas City was for Monsant's own use? 20 A. To the best of my knowledge. 21 MS. RITTER: Objection. 22 MS. MACERO: Objection. 23 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) During the time you were 24 employed at Monsanto, sir, do you know if Monsanto 25 owned any facilities which produced polyvinyl 20 1 chloride other than the plant in Springfield, 2 Massachusetts? 3 MS. RITTER j Objection. 4 MS. MACERO: Objection. 5 THE WITNESS: I do not. 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) You're not aware of any? 7 MS. RITTER: Objection. 8 MS. MACERO: Objection. 9 THE WITNESS: No. 10 MR. MINOFF: He said no. 11 You have to try to speak up so everybody 12 can hear you including her. 13 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Let's just go back, Mr. 14 Burnett, to 1954 when you returned to St. Louis. 15 What was your job title then? 16 A. I was manager of raw material purchases. 17 Q. And who did you report to? 18 A. When I first came back I reported to Mr. 19 Larry Heffernan. 20 Q. And what was his title? 21 A. He was director of purchases. 22 Q. For the whole company? 23 A. For the corporation. 24 Q. But you were just in the raw materials 25 division? 00) A ? 4 21 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And what did raw materials mean in the 3 language of Monsanto? 4 A. Pretty much as the name would indicate. It 5 was raw materials for products that we produced, end 6 products that we produced. 7 Q. And that would include chemicals used in 8 making end products? 9 A. Yes. 10 MS . RITTER: Objection. 11 MS . MACERO: Objection. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) How long did you remain in 13 that position? 14 A. Until 1970. 15 Q. And what happened in 1970? 16 A. We, the corporation, reorganized our 17 purchasing -- corporate purchasing department and my 18 responsibility then became director of raw material 19 projects on a worldwide basis and functioned as a 20 liaison from our purchasing department into our 21 operating companies of our divisions. At that time I 22 believe they were divisions. 23 Q. Between 1954 and 1970, what did your duties 24 include? rr>.- ,, u!/ * n. 25 A. Evaluation of people who worked for me, 22 1 assisting them in setting purchasing goals on a 2 yearly basis. Again, forming our -- or acting as a 3 conduit into our operating company so that we had a 4 flow of information back and forth. 5 Of course keeping our director of 6 purchasing advised about the activity of our raw 7 material section. Assisting usually with one of our 8 raw material purchasing men, activity with plant 9 purchasing people. 10 Still had people buying in the plant 11 level. Conducting seminars on purchasing and 12 directing meetings with our operating companies. 13 Q. Did you ever work with a fellow named 14 Herbert Parham during that period 1954 to 1970? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. Who was Mr. Parham? 17 A. Mr. Parham was director of -- in the raw 18 material section reporting to Mr. Evans who was then 19 our director of purchases. 20 His basic function was to represent 21 Monsanto with suppliers on a top level to arrange for 22 conferences in St. Louis related to raw materials if 23 it involved some of his contacts and working with me 24 on some of our project activities. I reported to Mr. 25 Parham. GO 23 1 Q. I was going to ask was he above you in the 2 hierarchy? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. Was one of your duties, sir -- did your 5 duties include actually signing contracts to purchase 6 raw materials on behalf of Monsanto? 7 MS. MACERO: Objection. 8 MS. RITTER: Objection. 9 THE WITNESS: I was approved to sign 10 contracts not to exceed two million dollars annually 11 with proper legal clearance on the contract, proper 12 divisional clearance on the contracts if it was for 13 one of our divisions. 14 And that usually was -- that approval 15 usually went to a higher level in our operating 16 companies. 17 Q. Were there other purchases that could be 18 signed off on by people in your department who were 19 under you? 20 A. That's correct. But they needed my 21 approval or initialing on the contract to do so. And 22 they were really at a lower level dollarwise. 23 Q. So what you're saying is they could sign 24 the contract but you would have to approve it? 25 A. Approve it. G0HK7 24 1 MS. MACERO: Objection. 2 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) But your name wouldn't 3 actually appear on the contract? 4 MS. MACERO: Objection. 5 MS. RITTER: Objection. 6 MS. MACERO: You'll have to verbalize that 7 answer, Mr. Burnett. 3 THE WITNESS; And the question? 9 (The last question was read back after 10 which the following proceedings were had.) 11 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) It would not? 13 A. It would not. I'm sorry I'm not talking 14 loudly. 15 MR. MINOFF: Everybody does it. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Did your level of 17 authority ever change between 1954 and 1970 as to the 18 contracts you were authorized to sign? 19 A. My level increased up to that figure, two 20 million dollars. 21 Q. That was the highest authority you ever 22 had ? 23 A. That's correct. 24 Q. As of 1970? 25 A. That's correct. 25 1 Q. That's what you had. Now, was signing 2 purchasing contracts on behalf of Monsanto also part 3 of your duties after 1970 after the reorganization? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. And did your authority level change at all 6 between 1970 and 1980? 7 A, It probably was less in 1970. The maximum 8 that I ever went to was on the order of two million 9 dollars per year. 10 Q. Now, during your stay in raw materials, 11 were there ever occasions that you were aware of in 12 which raw materials were purchased by Monsanto 13 without a contract actually being involved? 14 MS. MACERO: Objection. 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) A written contract? 17 A. Yes. I think we -- they would be really 18 minor raw materials. 19 Q. You mean the small amounts? 20 A. Smaller dollar amount, yes. 21 Q. Were there certain types of purchaseswhich 22 according to company policy had to be documented by a 23 written contract? 24 MS. MACERO: Objection. 25 MS. RITTER: Objection. 001 /IRQ 26 1 THE WITNESS: I don't recall any written 2 policy to that effect. However/ good business 3 judgment would control. We would always want a 4 secure source of supply. 5 One of the ways you do it of course was 6 through a contract. By and large most of our raw 7 materials were covered by contract. 8 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Were there occasions, sir, 9 on which raw materials were acquired by the company 10 other than by purchase, that is other than by paying 11 money for the product? 12 MS. RITTER: Objection. 13 MS. MACERO: Objection. 14 15 barter? THE WITNESS: Are you talking about 16 MR. MINOFF: Well, that is an example. 17 THE WITNESS: Not to my knowledge. 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Are you aware of any 19 occasions on which Monsanto acquired a raw material 20 by means of barter with another company? 21 MS. MACERO: Objection. 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 THE WITNESS: Not to my knowledge. 24 Domestically. 25 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What about GO ^70 27 1 internationally? 2 A. We may have. Some of the countries -- we 3 were an international country -- our company. Some 4 companies basically do not have the hard cash. Some 5 countries as I recall operate on a barter basis. 6 Q. In your position were you involved in 7 international purchases in any way? 8 A. Mostly on a supervisory basis. I spent 9 several -- or quite a bit of time in Belgium, in 10 England, in Australia, working with our purchasing 11 people at that location on problems they might have 12 with obtaining raw materials. 13 They also attended our -- these individuals 14 attended our annually -- or every two years a general 15 purchasing meeting in St. Louis. 16 Q, Let me just go back, Mr. Burnett, to an 17 earlier period of time that we talked about. Prior 18 to 1952 when you became manager of priorities in 19 Springfield -20 A. I was not manager of priorities in 21 Springfield. 22 Q. I'm sorry. Manager of purchasing in the 23 plastics division. 24 A. Right. 25 Q. I misread my own handwriting. Prior to 28 1 that time, were you -- did you have any awareness of 2 Monsanto's polyvinyl chloride operations in 3 Springfield? 4 MS. RITTER: Objection. 5 MS. MACERO: Objection. 6 THE WITNESS: No, I didn't. Not detailed. 7 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Were you aware that PVC 8 was being produced in Springfield? 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 MS. RITTER: Objection. 11 THE WITNESS: Yes. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Now, would that have been 13 prior to the beginning of operations at the Texas 14 City plant? 15 MS. MACERO: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: I don't recall when the Texas 17 City plant started producing vinyl chloride. 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Well, did you say earlier 19 that you visited the Texas City plant while it was 20 under construction? 21 A. Not the vinyl chloride plant. 22 MS. MACERO: Objection. 23 MS. RITTER: Objection. 24 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Then I misunderstood you. 25 You referred to visiting a plant in Texas City that G01 ^2 29 1 was under construction, correct? 2 A. We were building another type of plant. 3 Q, And you made that visit while you were 4 based in Springfield? 5 A. Correct. 6 Q. And when you made that visit, was there a 7 different plant in Texas City that was producing 8 vinyl chloride monomer? 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 MS. RITTER: Objection. 11 THE WITNESS: I don't recall. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Did you later become aware 13 that there was such a plant in Texas City? 14 MS. RITTER: Objection. 15 MS. MACERO: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: I knew that we had a plant in 17 Texas City that produced vinyl chloride. 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) When you said earlier that 19 you visited the plants or a plant in Texas City about 20 ten times, were you referring to the other plant that 21 is not the vinyl chloride plant? 22 A. I was visiting our purchasing department at 23 that location. We had purchasing meetings at Texas 24 City and other locations from time to time. 25 Q. Now, was there more than one location or 00i A'-rj 30 1 more than one plant location in Texas City for 2 Monsanto? 3 A. To my knowledge, no. 4 Q. Is it fair to refer to it as a plant 5 complex? Yes? 6 A. Yes, yes. 7 Q. And is it your testimony that the complex 8 included certain buildings that produced vinyl 9 chloride that was -10 MS. RITTER: Objection. 11 MS. MACEROj Objection. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) -- separate and apart from 13 other production facilities? 14 MS. RITTER: Objection. 15 MS. MACERO: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: That's correct. There would 17 be a vinyl chloride or whatever and then there would 18 be other plants. 19 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Sir, did there come a time 20 while you were at Monsanto when you were involved in 21 a contract whereby Monsanto agreed to purchase vinyl 22 chloride monomer from Dow Chemical Company? 23 MS. RITTER: Objection. 24 THE WITNESS: Yes. 25 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And how did you first 01" n & v 4 31 1 become involved in that? Do you recall? 2 A. I don't really recall what first -- the 3 first essence I had in that area. 4 Q. Well, what do you recall about your -- the 5 initial stages of your involvement with the Dow vinyl 6 chloride contract? 7 MS. RITTER: Objection. 8 THE WITNESS: As I indicated, one of my 9 responsibilities in the director of raw material 10 activity was the continuance, maintenance, and 11 liaison between corporate purchasing and the 12 operating companies. 13 Many times the operating companies might 14 possibly come to our director or to me and ask for 15 input into a contract that they might be considering. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Let me just stop you for a 17 second so we have our terms straight. What do you 18 mean by operating companies? 19 A. Operating companies -- at one time we had 20 divisional activity and that moved into replacing the 21 divisional activity or headquarters to an operating 22 company. It was an internal structure to streamline 23 the business activity. 24 Q. Why don't you continue your answer. 25 A. They would come to purchasing. And one of 0 f L) 32 1 my responsibilities was to liaison with these 2 companies on purchase projects. 3 And that would constitute input for the 4 kind of purchasing statements that we might want in a 5 contract. And we just worked hand in glove so to 6 speak with these people. 7 Q. Now, you were I think answering a question 8 that I had about the Dow vinyl chloride contract. 9 MS. RITTER: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS: Oh, that was any contract. 11 If we were buying -- may I take an example? 12 MR. MINOPF: Sure. 13 THE WITNESS: We were probably one of the 14 world's largest buyers of benzine. And for a number 15 of years within the purchasing department I had the 16 -- had to have the knowledge of what we were doing on 17 purchasing of benzine. 18 If we were developing a contract with a 19 benzine supplier, we would work with the consuming 20 division or operating company on specifications, 21 reasons why we as a purchasing department were 22 recommending certain companies because we continually 23 made economic studies, the best possible of our 24 suppliers' operating costs. We tried to know as much 25 as we could about the cost of the product. GG 8 G6 33 1 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Let's talk about vinyl 2 chloride for the moment since that's really why we're 3 here today. Did there come a point, sir, that you 4 recall becoming involved with people at the 5 Springfield plant regarding its need for vinyl 6 chloride? 7 MS. RITTER: Objection. 8 MS. MACERO: Objection. 9 THE WITNESS: We -- I don't recall a time 10 when I talked to Springfield about vinyl chloride. 11 We were working with the division people in St. 12 Louis. 13 That would be production or management of 14 the division that had the responsibility of producing 15 vinyl chloride. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And they would have had 17 the contact with the Springfield plant? 18 MS. RITTER: Objection. 19 MS. MACERO: Objection. 20 THE WITNESS: That was in their area to 21 have that contact. 22 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) That was how the 23 organization was set up? 24 MS. RITTER: Objection. 25 MS. MACERO: On objection. 001477 34 1 THE WITNESS: Yes. 2 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall, sir, a time 3 when the Springfield plant -- let me start over. 4 Strike that. 5 I'm not sure if I asked you about this 6 earlier but did you become aware at some point that 7 the vinyl chloride operations in Texas City were 8 going to be curtailed? 9 MS. RITTER: Objection. 10 MS. MACERO: Objection. 11 THE WITNESS: I don't know at what time I 12 was aware of it but generally I had that awareness. 13 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) That came to your 14 attention as in the raw materials department? 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS. MACERO: Objection. 17 THE WITNESS: Yes. 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And was there -- do you 19 know if there was a connection between that and the 20 contract that you became involved with involving 21 purchase of vinyl chloride from Dow Chemical Company? 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 MS. MACERO: Objection. 24 THE WITNESS: I'm not real sure I 25 understand your question. 001473 35 1 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) It was a little unclear. 2 Is it fair to say, sir -- I think we 3 discussed this earlier - ~ that the Springfield plant 4 was for a time using vinyl chloride which was 5 produced by the Monsanto plant in Texas City? 6 MS. RITTER: Objection. 7 MS. MACERO: Objection. 8 THE WITNESS: That's correct. 9 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Now, did there come a time 10 when the vinyl chloride being consumed in Springfield 11 was no longer coming from Texas City? 12 MS. RITTER: Objection. 13 MS. MACERO: Objection. 14 THE WITNESS: Yes, there was. 15 Q, (By Mr. Minoff) And was that -- or did 16 that have to do with the contract that was entered 17 into with Dow Chemical Company? 18 MS. RITTER: Objection. 19 MS. MACERO: Objection. 20 THE WITNESS: I am sure it had an influence 21 in that area. 22 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Let me show you something, 23 sir, that was produced to me by Monsanto at a 24 deposition that we conducted in May of this year. 25 I'll show this to your attorney. I'm sure he's seen GlTTTyg 36 1 it 2 This was marked as Exhibit No. 3 to the 3 deposition of Charles Pratt and Exhibit No. 1 to the 4 deposition of Ann Clark. And it was represented to 5 be a computer printout produced at Monsanto in 1991. 6 MS. RITTER: Without the highlighted 7 portions I assume. 8 MR. MINOFF: Actually I believe they -- it 9 was produced with highlighted portions. It's not 10 mine. 11 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And this was produced to 12 me in response to a subpoena for documents which had 13 been served upon Monsanto asking for any documents 14 relating to contracts between Monsanto and any other 15 company involving the acquisition of vinyl chloride. 16 And without going into a long discourse, 17 Mr. Pratt explained that he had obtained this from 18 the Monsanto archives and it described four documents 19 relating to a contract between Dow and Monsanto, four 20 documents which have apparently been destroyed. 21 I would like you to take a look at that, 22 sir, as you're now doing and just take some time to 23 review that and then I will have some questions for 24 you. 25 MS. RITTER: Well, I object to the long 0 L- ij /S G- 0 37 1 statement that was just made. I don't know what the 2 purpose is for showing him this document. If there 3 is a question pending, fine. 4 If you're using it to refresh his 5 recollection about something, then I think the 6 question should be asked. But I object to just 7 handing him the document and asking him about it 8 because he has not testified at all about his 9 knowledge of the Dow contract. 10 MS. MACERO: I will join in that objection. 11 MR. MINOPFs Okay. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Have you finished looking 13 at that, Mr. Burnett? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. Now, earlier I asked you some questions 16 about what you recalled about a Dow contract or a 17 contract between Monsanto and Dow involving vinyl 18 chloride. 19 I don't believe I ever really asked you the 20 question as to what if anything you recall about any 21 involvement you might have had with respect to that 22 contract. 23 MS. MACERO: Objection. 24 MS. RITTER: Objection. 25 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) I will ask you that now. 38 1 A. My involvement would be working with the 2 operating company or the division that produced vinyl 3 chloride, putting whatever input purchasing might 4 have had, reviewing the contract as I saw it of being 5 a good contract for both Monsanto and Dow in terms of 6 fairness. 7 And the mechanical operation under the 8 contract and also working with our purchasing legal 9 representative if necessary to see that Monsanto had 10 its proper legal protection in the contract. 11 And then in final analysis, putting my 12 initials on the contract to indicate that I had 13 performed those functions and passed it along to the 14 proper person for signature, 15 Q. Now, do you today have a specific 16 recollection of performing those functions with 17 respect to a Dow contract for supply of vinyl 18 chloride? 19 MS. RITTER: Objection. 20 MS. MACERO: Objection. 21 THE WITNESS: I do not have a detailed 22 perception of that activity but it was within the 23 realm of my job description to do these things. 24 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) These are things that you 25 certainly would have done? ur t/ Tf A f'l J 39 1 A. I would have to do. 2 MS. RITTER: Objection. 3 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) But you don't necessarily 4 recall doing them specifically many years after the 5 fact? 6 A. No . 7 MS . MACERO: Objection. 8 MS . RITTER: Objection. 9 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall today, sir, 10 if there was more than one contract for supply of 11 vinyl chloride involving Dow Chemical Company? 12 MS. RITTER: I object to that question 13 because in part he has had an opportunity to review 14 the computer printout and the question was not asked 15 prior to his opportunity to do that. 16 And I also object to form. 17 MS. MACERO: I join in those objections. 18 THE WITNESS: I do not. 19 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) You do not recall if there 20 was one or more than one? 21 A. No. 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall -- with 24 respect to the contract that you do recall, do you 25 recall what it provided as far as quantities of vinyl G G "3 R 3 40 1 chloride that would be furnished to Monsanto? 2 MS. MACERO: Objection. 3 MS. RITTER: Again, I object to that 4 question because I'm not sure if he -- I don't 5 believe he testified he recalls the specifics of any 6 contract. 7 And I also object as to form. 8 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) If you recall, sir. 9 A. I don't recall. 10 Q. As part of the raw materials division, did 11 you ever have occasion to work with contracts that 12 were referred to as requirements contracts? I'm not 13 just talking about vinyl chloride or Dow Chemical. 14 Just generally speaking. 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS, MACERO: Objection. 17 MR. MINOFF: Just generally speaking. 18 THE WITNESS: I don't like retire -- or 19 requirement contracts. I didn't like requirement 20 contracts. But I certainly do not recall any 21 contract that was -- well, let me say it another 22 way. 23 Requirement contracts means different 24 things to different people who look at them. I don't 25 think that you can look at the title page of a 4G 01' 4 ft 41 1 contract and not study the whole contract to 2 understand whether it is a total requirements 3 contractor or not. I don't have the document to look 4 at. 5 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) That's right. What is 6 your own definition of a requirements contract? 7 A. My own definition as a pure requirements 8 contract and no offsetting statements in the contract 9 is just that. It's your requirements. 10 Q. What do you mean by that? 11 A. I mean that if you needed to buy a chemical 12 and had a contract that was beyond any doubt a pure 13 requirements contract, you would be obligated by 14 business law and legally I feel to do just that, to 15 buy your requirements. 16 Q. And to buy all of your requirements from 17 that supplier? 18 A. If he was able to supply them. 19 Q. Now, you do recall there being a contract 20 between Monsanto and Dow Chemical for the supply of 21 vinyl chloride, correct? 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 MS. MACERO: Objection. 24 THE WITNESS: A requirement? 25 MR. MINOFF: No, a contract. 42 0 01 'X 8 5 1 MS. RITTER: Objection. 2 MS. MACERO: Objection. 3 THE WITNESS: Yes, I believe there was a 4 contract. 5 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And as to that contract, 6 do you recall what it provided as far as the amount 7 or amounts of vinyl chloride that were to be supplied 8 by Dow? 9 A. I do not. 10 Q. Let me show you again what I've just 11 previously showed you, the computer printout supplied 12 by Monsanto. 13 MS. RITTER: And I register an objection to 14 that. 15 MS. MACERO: And I will also. 16 MR. MINOFF: Yes. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And I ask you if there is 18 anything about that document based on your review of 19 that document that refreshes your recollection as to 20 the amounts of vinyl chloride that were to be 21 supplied to Monsanto under the Dow contract. 22 MS. RITTER: Objection. 23 THE WITNESS: Yes. 24 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And how does it refresh 25 your recollection? QoS 4^6 43 1 MS. ZUCKER; Just let me interject for a 2 minute here. I want to be sure the witness 3 understands that by refreshing your recollection that 4 this means that this jogs something in your mind that 5 you recall now as a result of being shown this and 6 that it does make sense and that you're not just 7 taking these numbers or these words and figures as 8 true just because they're on this piece of paper. I 9 just want to make sure you understand that. 10 MR. MINOFF: I want to make sure of that 11 too. I don't want this to suggest something to you 12 that you don't already have in your mind. 13 THE WITNESS: It doesn't because I don't 14 recall the numbers in the contract. 15 MR. MINOFF: Well, then that aovids the 16 whole issue. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall, sir, ever 18 having any direct contact with anybody from Dow 19 Chemical Company with respect to vinyl chloride? 20 MS. RITTER: Objection. 21 THE WITNESS: Yes. In a general way. 22 Their local St. Louis manager. 23 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What was his name? 24 A. Minbiole. 25 MS. RITTER: I'm sorry? r r; "j, Sf Q uc -lr' < 44 1 THE WITNESS: Minbiole 2 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What do you recall about 3 your dealings with Mr. Minbiole regarding vinyl 4 chloride? 5 A. Only that that was in a purchase area that 6 we discussed from time to time along with many other 7 items that we bought from Dow. 8 Q. Is there anything else today you can recall 9 regarding the Dow contract? And we're talking about 10 the Dow contract for vinyl chloride. Anything else 11 you can recall referred to? 12 A. No. 13 Q. We have exhausted your memory on that 14 topic , is that fair? 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: Yes. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Was there a term used in 18 raw materials -- commonly used which is referred to 19 as a "surge need"? 20 MS. MACERO: Objection. 21 MS. RITTER: Objection. 22 THE WITNESS: No, I don't think there was a 23 common use of that word. 24 Q. 25 means? (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know what that G 0183 45 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. What does it mean? 3 A. It means if our requirements under a 4 contract are above the contract level, to my 5 knowledge that we can call on that supplier for help 6 in supplying additional material. 7 Q. That is if you need more than is provided 8 for under the contract? 9 A. Right. 10 Q. You would go to the supplier and try to 11 obtain more? That's what you mean by surge need? 12 A. That's my interpretation, sir. 13 MS. MACERO: Objection. 14 MS. RITTER: Objection. 15 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Are you aware of -- excuse 16 me. Is there -- are you aware, sir, of any occasion 17 in which Monsanto had a surge need for vinyl chloride 18 monomer while you were at Monsanto? 19 MS. RITTER: Objection. 20 MS, MACERO: Objection. 21 MS. RITTER: Foundation. 22 THE WITNESS: I'm not aware. 23 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Sir, I think you said 24 earlier that there was a reorganization of purchasing 25 in 1970 0014R3 46 1 A. Uh-huh. 2 Q. Yes? 3 A. Yes. 4 MS. RITTER; Objection. 5 THE WITNESS; Yes, I'm sorry. 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Prior to that 7 reorganization, were any purchases of raw materials 8 handled directly by the individual plant as opposed 9 to St. Louis? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And was that the case even after the 12 reorganization? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Did the reorganization have anything to do 15 with the division of responsibilities for purchasing 16 between St. Louis and the individual plants? 17 A. On a long-range basis as we strengthened 18 the purchasing departments of the plants, 19 strengthened the personnel in the plant purchasing 20 departments. 21 Q. Was there an effort to increase or decrease 22 the purchasing role of the individual plants as 23 opposed to the St. Louis? 24 MS. RITTER; Objection. 25 MS. MACERO; Objection also. n^ .. Ul* I '/U>'0 47 1 THE WITNESS: There was a very strong 2 effort to get technically trained people, chemical 3 engineers, mechanical engineers, into our purchasing 4 activity. 5 We viewed the plant area as a grooming 6 ground for future people to be promoted to St. 7 Louis. That was one of our objectives. 8 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) As you were -9 A. I'm a civil engineer, not a chemical 10 engineer . 11 Q. Sir, while you were at Monsanto, do you 12 know of any occasions on which Monsanto purchased any 13 raw materials from B.F. Goodrich Company? 14 MS. RITTER: Objection. 15 MS. MACERO: Objection. 16 THE WITNESS: I personally could not name a 17 raw material purchased from B.F, Goodrich, 18 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Well, I'm not asking you 19 to name any particular type of raw material. I'm 20 just asking if you're aware of whether or not any raw 21 materials were ever purchased by Monsanto from B.F. 22 Goodrich during your tenure? 23 MS. MACERO; I'm going to object to that. 24 I think that given the time frame and the quantity of 25 chemicals produced by B.F. Goodrich it is impossible o o i /> ^ i 48 1 to ask this witness to search his memory as to 2 whether or not he has any knowledge about anything. 3 We might as well ask him how many cars 4 drove up the street today. I think there is no basis 5 for giving an answer. 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Other than the Dow 7 contract involving vinyl chloride# are you, sir, 8 aware of any contract in which Monsanto entered into 9 which involved the purchase of vinyl chloride from 10 any other source? 11 MS . RITTER: Objection. 12 MS. MACERO: Objection. 13 THE WITNESS: I am not aware of such a 14 document. 15 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know, sir, if 16 Monsanto ever purchased vinyl chloride from any other 17 source absent a contract? 18 MS. RITTER: Objection. 19 MS. MACERO: Objection. 20 THE WITNESS: I do not. 21 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Based on the way the 22 purchasing department was structured while you were 23 there in St. Louis, were there any purchases of raw 24 materials that could be accomplished solely in 25 Springfield? That is without going through St. 49 o 1 Louis 2 A. Yes. 3 MS. MACERO: Objection. 4 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know whether people 5 at the Springfield plant would have been authorized 6 to purchase vinyl chloride without going through St. 7 Louis? 8 MS. RITTER: Objection. 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS: I do not know of any 11 condition that they would do this. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What about where there was 13 -- I'm not saying it occurred but what if there was a 14 surge need for vinyl chloride? 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS. MACERO: Objection. 17 THE WITNESS: Their first obligation would 18 be to try to obtain it from their contract customer. 19 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) And if they couldn't do 20 that? 21 A. Or supplier. 22 Q. Let's just talk about the Dow contract. 23 And I'm speaking hypothetically so 24 everybody understands that. 25 MS. MACERO: I will object to the whole 50 1 line of questioning based on that it would be 2 speculative. 3 MS. RITTER: Also with regard to his prior 4 testimony concerning surge need I think this question 5 is improper also and I also object. 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) What if the situation 7 arose under the Dow contract hypothetically speaking 8 where Dow was not able to respond to a surge need for 9 vinyl chloride from Monsanto? 10 MS. MACEROs Objection. 11 MS. RITTER: Objection. Speculative. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) How would Monsanto go 13 about -- or how would that surge need be satisfied 14 then? 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS. MACERO: Objection. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) How would it work? 18 A. Contracts do not work -- good contracts do 19 not work in a vacuum. And I'm sure that if a need 20 developed and Dow couldn't supply that need, that 21 discussions between Dow and Monsanto would relieve 22 the problem in terms that under some basis product 23 would be made available to Monsanto. 24 Q. Sir, do you recall how long the Dow vinyl 25 chloride contract was actually in effect? 51 1 MS. RITTER: Object ion. 2 MS. MACERO: Objection. 3 THE WITNESS: I do not know -- recall the 4 specific dates of the contract. 5 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Okay. I'm not asking you 6 to recall the dates. I'm just asking you if you have 7 any recollection as to the amount of time that that 8 contract actually spanned, the time it was in effect? 9 MS. RITTER: Objection. 10 MS. MACERO: Objection. 11 THE WITNESS: No, sir, I do not. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Did you become aware, sir, 13 at any point that Monsanto stopped producing 14 polyvinyl chloride at its Springfield plant? 15 A. I do not. 16 MS. RITTER: Objection. 17 MS. MACERO: Objection. 18 MR. MINOFF: You have no awareness of 19 that. 20 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Were you involved at all, 21 sir, in arranging for the transportation of raw 22 materials to the various Monsanto plant locations? 23 A. No, sir, I was not. 24 Q. Were you involved in supervising or 25 maintaining the supply contracts that had already 0i a n 5 52 1 been entered into? 2 That is once the contracts were signed, 3 were you -- did you remain involved in the 4 performance of those contracts? 5 MS. RITTER: Objection. 6 THE WITNESS: I do not believe you're 7 talking about a specific contract. 8 MR. MINOFF: No, just generally. 9 THE WITNESS: In our liaison with major 10 suppliers, periodically we would review perhaps with 11 the supplier the performance against any contract 12 that we had negotiated in coroprate purchasing. 13 So the answer would be yes, there was a 14 certain amount of review of contracts just on a 15 business basis. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Now, sir, you don't recall 17 having -- or you don't specifically recall what 18 involvement you may have personally had with respect 19 to Dow contract, is that correct, just based on your 20 earlier testimony? 21 MS. RITTER: Objection. 22 MS. MACERO; Objection. 23 THE WITNESS: That is correct. 24 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know the types of 25 things that you would have done but have no specific G i* if ^ ^6 53 1 recollection as to doing those things? Is that a 2 fair summary of your testimony? 3 MS. MACERO: Objection. 4 MS. RITTER: Objection. 5 THE WITNESS: Could you repeat that again? 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Yeah. You recall the 7 functions that you would have performed in a general 8 way but don't have a specific recollection today of 9 doing those types of functions with respect to the 10 Dow contract? 11 A. That' s correct. 12 Q. Is that a fair summary of your testimony? 13 A. Yes. 14 MS. MACERO: Objection. 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Was there anyone else, 17 sir, who worked with you, either under you in the 18 hierarchy or alongside you or above you, who you 19 recall having any involvement with respect to the Dow 20 contract? 21 A. No, I don't recall any specific names of 22 people. I -- of course my boss. 23 Q. Is that Mr. Evans? 24 A. Mr. Evans. No one within the department. 25 And beyond that point I don't remember specific names G 01 A 9 7 54 1 of people. And I'm sure there were people that I 2 discussed the contract or they discussed the contract 3 with me. 4 Q. Did Monsanto have a policy of keeping what 5 was referred to as releases to show what was 6 purchased against certain contracts? 7 MS. RITTERs Objection. 8 MS. MACERO: Objection. 9 THE WITNESS! IBM record or printout 10 record. 11 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall such records 12 being kept with respect to the Dow contract that 13 we're talking about? 14 A. No. 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS. MACEROs Objection. 17 THE WITNESS! I do not. Not that would 18 have come across my desk. 19 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) You wouldn't have been 20 involved with those releases? 21 A. No, sir. 22 Q. Wouldn't have been part of your job? 23 A. No, sir. 24 MS. MACERO: Objection. 25 MS. RITTER: Objection. GGUQZ*4 55 1 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Sir, are you familiar with 2 Conoco? 3 MS. MACERO: Objection. 4 MS. RITTER: Objection. 5 THE WITNESS: I know the name. 6 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) While you were in raw 7 materials at Monsanto, do you recall purchasing any 8 raw materials from Conoco? 9 MS. RITTER: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS: I don't recall major 11 purchases from Conoco. 12 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you recall any 13 purchases from them? 14 A. There may well have been but I don't 15 recall. 16 Q. Do you recall any purchases of raw 17 materials that Monsanto made from Union Carbide while 18 you were at raw materials? 19 MS. RITTER: Objection. 20 MS. MACERO: Objection. 21 THE WITNESS: Union Carbide was a supplier 22 of a number of chemicals to Monsanto. 23 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Such as what? Do you 24 recall? 25 A. Alcohol. Any number of products. I recall G i* fM- ^ 9 56 1 alcohol as one. Union Carbide per se was a supplier 2 of chemicals to Monsanto. 3 Q. Do you recall specifically any instances in 4 which Monsanto purchased or otherwise acquired vinyl 5 chloride from Union Carbide while you were with 6 Monsanto? 7 MS. RITTER: Objection. 8 MS. MACERO: Objection. 9 THE WITNESS: No. 10 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Was there -- did you deal 11 -- I'm speaking now of any raw materials. Did you 12 ever deal directly with anybody at Union Carbide with 13 respect to these purchases? 14 MS. RITTER: Objection. What purchases? 15 MR. MINOFF: Purchases of raw materials. 16 THE WITNESS: We would have to. 17 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) I'm asking if you 18 personally had any contact with Union Carbide people. 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Do you recall the names of any of those 21 people here today? 22 A. Yes. There were people that I knew at 23 Carbide from the most recent chairman of the board 24 down to their local -- series of local people who 25 called on Monsanto. n'iiji.fan 57 1 Q. I'm just asking about people that you 2 actually dealt with with respect to supply of raw 3 materials into Monsanto, Can you identify for me any 4 of those people? 5 A, Well, their local sales representative in 6 St. Louis dealt with Monsanto. 7 Q. Who was that? 8 A. Mr. John Fleck, F-l-e-c-k. 9 Q. He was located in St. Louis? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. And anyone else? 12 A. Most of my dealings would have been through 13 John Fleck into the Carbide organization. 14 Q. Have you talked with Mr. Fleck since 15 leaving Monsanto in 1980? 16 A. I played golf with him one time. 17 Q. How recently was that? 18 A. Oh, that was five, six years ago. 19 Q. I think I asked you this question earlier 20 and I apologize for that. But with respect to B.F. 21 Goodrich, do you recall any specific instances in 22 which Monsanto purchased raw materials from B.F. 23 Goodrich while you were at Monsanto? 24 MS. MACEROs Objection. 25 THE WITNESS: I do not. ___________________________________ G0I5H1______ 58 1 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Now, we talked earlier 2 about what you referred to as barter. I just want to 3 make sure I understand your testimony. 4 Is your testimony that you do not recall 5 personally any instances in which Monsanto acquired 6 raw materials domestically by way of barter with an 7 outside source? Is that an accurate statement? 8 MS. RITTER: Objection. 9 MS. MACERO: Objection. 10 THE WITNESS: I do not recall. 11 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know if Monsanto 12 had a policy in its purchasing department regarding 13 barters or swaps with outside sources for raw 14 materials? 15 MS. RITTER: Objection. 16 MS. MACERO: Objection. 17 THE WITNESS: I don't believe we had a firm 18 policy in that respect. Neither do I -- what I'm 19 saying, a written policy with either like materials 20 or unlike materials. 21 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Let's turn back to vinyl 22 chloride for a second. Do you know whether there was 23 a period in which polyvinyl chloride was being 24 produced -- strike that. I'll ask it a different 25 way C 0i5 n 2 59 1 Do you know if there was a time when vinyl 2 chloride monomer was being consumed at the Monsanto 3 Springfield plant before vinyl chloride was being 4 produced by Monsanto in Texas City? 5 MS. RITTER: Objection. 6 MS. MACERO; Objection. 7 THE WITNESS: I do not. 8 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) You don't know if that 9 situation ever occurred? 10 A. No. 11 MS . RITTER: Objection. 12 MS . MACERO: Objection. 13 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Other than Monsanto and 14 Dow Chemical, do you know of any other source which 15 Monsanto had for vinyl chloride monomer while you 16 were employed by Monsanto? 17 A. No, I do not. 18 MS . RITTER: Objection. 19 MS . MACERO: Objection. 20 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Do you know, sir. if there 21 was any period of time during which Monsanto was 22 supplying itself with vinyl chloride at the same time 23 that Dow was also supplying Monsanto with vinyl 24 chloride? 25 MS. RITTER: Objection. Gel 60 1 THE WITNESS: I do not. 2 MS. MACERO: Objection. 3 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) Sir, who was Roland 4 Dunlop? Does that name mean anything to you? 5 A. Roland Dunlop was in our distribution 6 department and eventually became director of that 7 department. 8 Q. Did you have to work with him at all? 9 A. Not really. Well, the answer would be no. 10 Q. Did Mr. Pratt work for you? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Mr. Charles Pratt? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. What did he do? 15 A. He was one of our raw material buyers, 16 manager of raw material I think. 17 Q. In raw materials did -- was that only 18 involved -- that department only involved in the 19 purchase of raw materials or were there any occasions 20 on which you would also be involved in selling raw 21 materials to other sources? 22 MS. MACERO: Objection. 23 THE WITNESS: We would not be involved in 24 selling raw materials. 001^^4 25 Q. (By Mr. Minoff) That would be a different 61 1 department altogether and you were never engaged in 2 that at any time at Monsanto, correct? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Sir, prior to this deposition today in 5 preparing for the deposition, have you spoken to 6 anyone other than your attorney? 7 A. That's correct, I have not. 8 Q. You have not. Prior to -- 9 A. May I change that statement? 10 Q. Yes. 11 A, Charlie Pratt called me sometime before 12 September or early part of September and asked 13 several questions or two questions I recall about the 14 contract and what X remembered about it, 15 I told him that my memory was not really 16 that strong, that I felt that I could not tell him 17 anything about the contract. And that was about the 18 only question he had. 19 Q. Prior to coming here today, did you review 20 any documents in order to prepare for the deposition? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q, What did you review? 23 A. I read Mr. Pratt's review or deposition. 24 Q. Anything else? 25 A. No, sir. 001 505 62 1 Q. Did you review any of the exhibits that 2 were marked at his deposition? 3 A. No. 4 Q. Just the actual testimony? 5 A. Testimony. 6 Q. Just so we have it on the record, you are 7 represented by counsel here today? 8 A. That's correct. 9 Q. And your attorney is sitting next to you? 10 A. That's correct. 11 Q. Mr. Zucker. 12 Mr. Burnett, who was A.J. Prankel? Does 13 that mean anything to you? 14 A. Mr. Frankel worked for me and then was one 15 of our managers of raw material. 16 Q. Do you recall Mr. Frankel having had any 17 involvement with the Dow contract? 18 A. No, I don't believe he did, 19 MR. MINOFF: Mr. Burnett, I don't have any 20 more questions for you. Thank you, sir, 21 MS. RITTER: Can I take a break for a 22 second? 23 MR. MINOFF: Sure. 24 (A break was taken after which the 25 following proceedings were had.) f A] (,V 6 63 X CROSS EXAMINATION 2 QUESTIONS BY MS. RITTER 3 Q. Mr. Burnett, my name is Sue Ritter and I 4 represent Union Carbide, Dow, and Conoco. I just 5 wanted to clarify one thing that you said earlier. 6 Mr. Minoff had asked you if you had spoken 7 to anyone besides your attorney about this case and I 8 want, you know, to clarify on the record that you and 9 I did speak on the phone last week. 10 A. Yes, we did. 11 Q. And during that conversation I asked you 12 basically the same questions, probably much shorter 13 fashion, that Mr. Minoff asked you today, is that 14 t rue? 15 A. That's correct. 16 Q. And what you testified today is basically 17 what you told me last week, is that correct? 18 A. That's right. 19 MS. RITTER! Okay. That's all I wanted. 20 CROSS EXAMINATION 21 QUESTIONS BY MS. MACERO 22 Q. I just have one question. Good morning, 23 Mr. Burnett, I'm Rosemary Macero and I represent 24 B.F. Goodrich. 00i s 25 The only question I have for you this 64 1 morning is do you know of any other Monsanto plants 2 that produced PVC? 3 A. I do not. 4 Q. So that would only be the one in 5 Springfield and Indian Orchard? 6 A. To my knowledge that is correct. 7 MS. MACERO: I don't have any other 8 questions. 9 MR. ZUCKER; No questions. 10 MS. RITTER: Thank you. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Q (} 1 3 25 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Of 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 RONALD BURNETT Subscribed and sworn to before me this _______ day 1991. My commission expires . Notary Public 001 r~ r\ 66 1 STATE OP MISSOURI ) ) SS. 2 COUNTY OF ST. LOUIS ) 3 4 I, SANDRA WUNDERLIN WITT, Registered 5 Professional Reporter, a notary public within and for 6 the County of St. Louis, State of Missouri, DO HEREBY 7 CERTIFY that pursuant to agreement there came before 8 me at 701 Market Street, in the City of St. Louis, 9 State of Missouri, 10 RONALD BURNETT, 11 who was by me first duly sworn to tell the whole 12 truth of his knowledge touching the matter in 13 controversy aforesaid; that he was examined on the 14 day, between the hours, and at the place and in that 15 behalf first aforesaid, that his examination was 16 taken in shorthand and later reduced to typewriting 17 and signed by the witness; and his deposition is now 18 herewith returned and filed with the Court. 19 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed 20 my name and affixed my notarial seal on this 21 day of, 1991. 22 My commission expires September 7, 1993. 23 24 Sandra Wunderlin Witt, RPR, CM 25 G Is 1 ,r) s Q 67